Chiara, the Engineer Who Puts Italian Cuisine into a Box

What happens when love for planning meets passion for food? Something like My Cooking Box happens. It's a box – we'll see that the definition is somehow reductive – that contains a recipe and all the ingredients to cook a fine Italian dish. It's the idea of a 30 year old from Bergamo, Chiara Rota. "It's a convenient product, features the best ingredients coming from all over Italy, prevents food waste because everything is provided in the right quantities, and is suitable for those who follow a proper nutritional diet".

Last February the start-up was included in the Speed MI Up incubator. "The project was born out of my passion for cooking and my inclination to planning", says Rota, a management engineer who since childhood has lived the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity of her family, whose business deals with the molding of textile and manufacturing industrial machinery. "Now the challenge is to commit to My Cooking Box. Which is not a ready meal, but a way to meet the needs of consumers who like to cook. There's no need to be a chef. The recipes are simple, great cooking skills are not required".

The product is aimed at owners of second homes and to anyone who does not want to forgo a nice meal because the refrigerator and the pantry are empty. It aims also to tourists and agencies that organize wine and food tours that can consider My Cooking Box a valuable gadget. It will be available in selected stores, small supermarkets that deal with high-end products, holiday resorts, airports. Everything's included: all you need to cook is some water. There will be two sizes: for families (five portions) and couples (two portions). "We'd like to introduce portions for singles too".

Every box contains three key and some accessory ingredients such as oil, salt, spices. They're selected by a chef and a nutritionist. "The ingredients come from the best Italian local producers, with a strong link to the territory. The granular salt comes from a salt pan within a WWF protected area in Trapani, paccheri are from Gragnano, capers from Pantelleria, trofiette from Liguria. Every ingredient is in the same storage conditions, at least until we'll introduce a line of refrigerated food". Rota is now overseeing the final details. "The packaging will be a surprise. Do not expect a simple box, but an original and refined object. I hope I'll get by the end of April the prototypes that will be tested in the Orio al Serio airport, then we'll start with our first five recipes".